(shameless parental bragging below.  you can skip if you like)

Eric’s a really smart kid (he gets that from me), but sometimes he gets in trouble at school because he has kind of a lackadaisical attitude towards turning stuff in and completing homework (he gets that from Jenny).  So anyway, he had all sorts of problems last year that we finally got straightened out by the end of the year, but he missed some basic math.  When this year started, he was doing 2 digit multiplication in is head, but he’d sometimes mess something trivial up, and since he didn't know how to do the problem on paper, he wouldn't catch the mistake and would get the problem wrong.  When that was coupled with forgetting his homework on occasion, he ended up with an F in math during the first grading period, and an F is a major problem.  After some review work though, he got an A this marking period, and his teacher is happy with him.

Jenny and I are really happy too.  We’re taking him to the circus this weekend as a reward (well, it’s also for Alex’s birthday, but Eric didn't necessarily have to come)

(He still forgets to hand in his homework sometimes.  We’ll get to that later)

One of the things that the kids don’t like about when Jenny goes out of town is that we have “Daddy Meals” which are heavy on the sandwiches and light on warm things.  Today, to prove to them that I’m not completely useless in the kitchen, I made chicken and rice:  I cut up some chicken, cooked it in a pan, and then cooked some rice and then dumped the chicken into it with a can of cream of chicken soup.  With some corn on the side and toast, it made a great dinner…and they even ate all of it; Eric asked for seconds.  Cleaning it up was a pain in the butt though, so I think tomorrow we’ll be back to oatmeal and PB&J.

This is the other thing that I do when Jenny is gone.  I don’t really mind washing dishes, but laundry is a drag.  I’d just leave it and let Jenny deal with it when she got home, but a) that wouldn’t be nice and b) I don’t want the kids to smell at school.

I hope everyone’s having a good week and staying warm; although spring will be here soon, I’m still hoping for more snow.

I got used to Jenny being here, and now she left again.  She’s going to be gone a lot in February too, so I suppose I should get used to it.  It’s kind of a drag, but I guess you do what you have to do, right?

Anyway, I went to Hickory to see my mom and dad this weekend, with Eric and Jake, because my sister was there with Eric’s FAVORITE cousin Will.  They had a great time.  My mom and dad are going to the Cayman islands for a couple of weeks, so I had to go and see them in case their plane crashes or something.  Today we didn’t do a whole lot except clean up and hang around the house.  Tomorrow school is out, so I’m just going to work from home and throw food down to the kids every once in a while.  I have a one on one with my new manager too, so I’ll have to lock the kids in the garage or something while I’m on the phone.  I’m lucky that the kids are now just about old enough for me to be able to threaten them and make them BE QUIET when I need them to be.

I like this picture of Izzy, even though you can’t see her face.  She’s so cute!

This is what she’s like most of the time.  

Since Monday was MLK day, Tuesday was a snow day, and Friday was supposed to be a school holiday (it wasn’t, because of the snow day) I’m not really sure what day it is.  The only notable activities so far this week have been that Jake got in another fight at school (with the same kid as before) so today he had to suffer the indignity of getting suspended from the bus.  He’s spent the last couple of days in his room, which he HATES, so I hope that it gets through to him that he’s not supposed to smack anyone just for calling him a bad name.

I took this picture this morning, I got a book on amateur astronomy, I think I’ll get obsessed with that too.  I get obsessed with stuff easily.

Today was great:  it finally snowed enough to get school cancelled.  The kids spent all day playing out in the snow, and we went driving around on some errands together this afternoon.  It was a lot of fun.  I’m convinced that my snow dance finally worked.

Now I’m ready for the NEXT snowfall.  We found a great place to go sledding next time it snows (we didn’t find it until this afternoon). 

As you can see from the picture, Eric really knew how to dress.  He stole the cap from the attic, where I had it on a glass head I got somewhere before we got married.  He and his buddies had a good time getting dirty.

Izzy and Jake had a good time too, but I think Izzy looked like Randy from A Christmas Story

We didn't get any snow today, but tonight the forecast is:

The kids are off for MLK day today, and now it looks as if they will be out tomorrow too, if we get lucky.  Now I have to figure out how to take good pictures of the snow!

Yay snow!

I don’t understand the fascination kids have with Sharpies.  Izzy found one again today and decorated herself:

Luckily, she didn’t write on the walls this time (as far as I can tell).  As you can see, she’s not taking it very seriously, and she’s very impressed with herself.

We also didn’t get any snow, but now they are saying it might snow tomorrow evening, I think they’re just playing with me.

Everyone think happy thoughts, the snow might come!

It’s supposed to get down to NINE degrees tonight.  Nine fahrenheit, not celsius.  I think this is for the birds, unless it’s going to snow.  I shouldn't complain, because all of my internet friends who live up in the Igloo states have weather like this all winter, but it’s very unusual here.  The kids don’t know what to do, because it’s sunny out, but then they go outside and they’re kind of surprised that it’s COLD.

This weekend we’re not doing much of anything.  Jenny’s cousin Tomi came to visit us from Greensboro; she’s a grad student and obviously doesn’t have anything fun to do.

Obligatory picture of a kid.   Here’s a fact for you:  Jake got into TWO fights at school this week:  once because a kid ‘kept bothering’ him, and another time because another kid called him a “Tophead”.  When I asked what a tophead was, he kind of rolled his eyes at me and said “Daddy, a tophead is the thing on top of a soda bottle”.  I don’t know how I got to be 43 and didn’t know that. 

Jake’s not enjoying the punishment you get for getting in trouble at school.  He says it’s MY fault he got in trouble, because I didn’t remind him to keep his hands to himself before he got on the bus.  I don’t know what’s gotten into him, but I guarantee it’s going to stop!

I hope everyone has a great weekend and STAYS WARM!

Jenny and I went to see the Eagles last night, and they were great!  We didn't get home until after midnight though, and I’m WAY too old for that.  The songs were awesome, but it was weird seeing all of those old guys playing those songs.  Can’t you tell by the blob below how great it was?

Jenny is STILL asleep (and its after EIGHT).  I have to wake her up in a bit because she has to go into the office today to have a one on one with her manager.  She’s still walking on air after her promotion, so I’m sure it will be a good conversation. 

I got up and walked the kids to the bus stop this morning and was cold…it’s going to get even colder tomorrow: down around 10F…which is ridiculous, especially since we’ve not gotten ANY snow.  What a rip-off.  I did take my camera though.

Jenny got home at about 6:30.  I’m so glad she’s back, it seems as if she was gone for a long time.  We didn’t do a whole lot tonight except hang out, I think she’s exhausted from her trip.  We took a picture to celebrate her Grandma’s 91st birthday; we’ll send it off to her tonight.

I hope I’m still reading my email when I’m 91.

I read a lot.  A whole lot.  Amazon.com sends me a Christmas card every year because I buy so many books from them.  While reading is a lot better than some of the habits I’ve ever had in my life, it’s gotten expensive.  Furthermore, there are a lot of books that I read while I’m in hotels or on airplanes that I don't want to keep (along with lots of books that I do keep).  To get past this problem, and because I’m FRUGAL, I started to use paperbackswap.com.  The way it works is that you post books that you’re willing to part with, and other members can ask you to send the books to them.  Then, you can look through the lists of books other people are wiling to part with, and get one for each book you’ve given away.  It works really well, and I’ve gotten rid of a lot stuff I don't want (more than ten, and I’ve only been a member for a couple of weeks) and gotten some good ones in return.  It’s free too (except for the cost of mailing the books, which is about 2.50 for a hardcover).  My neighbor Kim turned me on to it, and I got my sister to sign up too.

What a bargain.

Ever since we got back from Disneyland last month, Izzy’s favorite toy has been a little Tinkerbelle figure, about 3” high.  She plays with it all the time.  The only problems with this are:

1. It’s very hard to get the dresses on and off
2. Tink is missing a very important part of her body:  her head.

So its kind of macabre having her run up to you and say “Will you change Tinkerbelle?” and thrust a dress and a headless doll into your hands.  It’s not like she doesn't have ten billion other toys she could play with AND it’s weird.

(This is Tinkerbelle.  She’s in her pajamas now, and she has to put on her shirt so she can go to the store)

The weather today has been a real pain:  it’s gray and rainy, but luckily it isn’t all that cold.  I want to go out and take some cool pictures for our photography project, but I don’t want to wander out in the wet with a camera.  Today’s meal was cereal, since I went and got milk today, to replace the spoiled milk disaster of yesterday.    Weather like this makes me want to take a nap all the time, so it’s probably a good thing that I don’t live in Seattle, where the company’s headquarters is; I’d never get anything done.

So here’s my picture for today:

From now on, I’m going to post them on the project website that Jim set up, and I’ll just put the “good” ones here.  I like the idea of taking lots of pictures, which will help me get better, but some days (what am I on, day 6?  I better not run out of steam this fast…)  Tomorrow I work from home, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to get a good shot of something before the kids come home.

Jenny went out of town, so the kids are having to get used to eating what they call “Daddy Meals”.  I’m pretty sure it’s not a compliment.  I don’t know what they’re talking about, because we have balanced meals.  Tonight, for example, we had macaroni and cheese, grapes, chicken nuggets, and chocolate chip cookie dough.  If that’s not a great meal, I don’t know what is.

Last night’s entertainment included Izzy finding a sharpie, and decorating her face and her walls.  I LOVE when that happens.

Doesn’t she look great with marker on her face?  Sharpie doesn’t come out easily, and I didn’t want to use steel wool on her.  Everyone would get mad at me if I did.

Panorama of a  farm a few miles from my house.

I have lots of pocketknives.

Eric went and stayed with my sister (and his FAVORITE COUSIN Will) after Christmas, and I met my sister this afternoon to pick him up.  When I was little, I was very close with my cousins, and I really enjoy looking back on the experiences we all had (even if it’s sad when one of them up and dies), so I love it that Eric has a good time with them.  This summer, we’ll have Will come and stay with us for a week.   My sister tells me that Eric was good, even though I know he can sometimes be sort of stubborn (he gets that from his mother), so I think he’s welcome there still.

Even though he had a great time, I’m glad to have him home…the house seems kind of empty with only 3 kids in it.  This evening we went to my friend Kevin’s new house for dinner.  It was great, and it was cool to see how the rich people live (Kevin’s been at Microsoft since about 1989, and he’d light his cigars with hundred dollar bills if he smoked cigars).   One of the benefits of having a friend in real life is that sometimes they’ll give you food.  Since Kevin is my only real-life friend, I have to be nice to him and invite him and his family over for dinner soon.

This is going to be a hard week:  Jenny is going to DC for work, and then going to Florida to help her parents with an antique show they are putting on.  It will be a lot of work for her, and the house is REALLY empty when she isn’t here.

I hope all of my spaces friends have a good week!

Inspired by Jim’s shot of his mess, I decided to add mine:

(I also went with this because I didn’t get any decent pictures of the kids.  I sort of liked this one, but decided against using it.)

Alex loves the Spiderwick Chronicles.